Question for Moderators

[Cormanus]

White Dog, you might also like to check your privacy settings in Facebook. Remember, like Google, Facebook is only interested in mining its users for information about themselves so it can be sold to advertisers.

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

Being aware of your privacy settings wherever you live virtually is key

[Cormanus]

Or, as Monty Python once had it, 'People who live in glass houses shouldn't'.

[kmoney_imp]

Companies pay for this to be done. I always add things to shopping carts to see how much Canadian shipping is and then abandon them when it's too high. If it's a major retailer, I can basically be sure the same item will show up in my Facebook advertising, often saying "still interested?"

Revzilla and eBay are two that always do it. As mentioned above, advertisers pay for this to happen.

It's a tradeoff. I used to disable anything g that could track me and use private browsing. The pro was I never got targeted advertising like this, the con (and why I stopped) was that you kiss out on any of the helpful metrics that give you better google searches, suggestions, etc...

[White Dog_imp]

Ah, all is well. There have been no suspicious charges to my credit card, plus I just received a new card (with the microchip) and it has a different expiration date and CCV than the old card, so no worries now. Now, if I could just convince myself to quit buying stuff some would question if I need it ...

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Two other forums to which I post had massive security breaches in February; every user's info was posted publicly on the Web, so whatever each member entered into his/her profile was made public.

That info can easily be used to access major accounts the person may have, several ways, mainly by entering email addresses into Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and any other major social networking website or consumer services site, and requesting a new password.

When that doesn't work (it won't because the hacker won't be able to receive the email in most cases) the hacker calls Amazon customer service, makes some kind of excuse about having changed his/her email, and in many cases, a new password is issued over the phone since the hacker is able to confirm many other details provided in the data breach. The credit card fraud then begins.

That's why I provide only the minimum amount of information needed to join any forum and nothing more.